Cardiff Blues academy manager, Gruff Rees, was delighted to see the club’s under-18 side grind out a hard-earned victory over Scarlets on Wednesday, earning a third consecutive victory, but insists the focus remains on the ‘bigger picture’.
After two convincing victories following the return to rugby - scoring 14 tries in the process - Dan Fish and Craig Everett’s men survived a Scarlets comeback to secure a 29-28 win, thanks to a late penalty from playmaker Harrison James.
Seven changes were made to the side for the trip to Llanelli, with a number of age grade players featuring for the first time since the side's return to action.
The block of under-18 fixtures will draw to a close on Monday as Cardiff welcome Dragons to Merthyr’s The Wern.
And former Canada coach Rees believes the experience of managing a different type of games, as seen at Parc y Scarlets, will benefit the youngsters’ development in the long run.
“It was frustrating at the time, when you’re immersed in the game with the coaches and looking at the performance, which was far from smooth,” explains the academy manager.
“But in my role where I’m looking at the big picture, having a different type of game that requires the managing of conditions, facing opposition that were fired up and looking at different refereeing interpretations is all part of the learning for these young players.
“We looked at swapping the group around a little bit because people have earned selection opportunities through their diligence and the way they train. For the boys in Year 12 in our pathway, we want to create development opportunities and Wednesday was exactly that for those boys.
“That can create a lack of cohesion in certain areas, but in terms of the big picture and we were able to look at how the academy players performed under a different level of duress and alongside different players. We had guys from Year 12 in there who could come through well for us next year.
“Overall it was a really good night. It was a good game that went back and forth a little bit. We don’t judge ourselves by the scoreboard but the way we managed ourselves in the final 20 minutes, after digging a bit of a hole for ourselves, was pleasing from a growth and leadership point of view.
“The players in this group are competitive beasts, as they should be if they’re part of our pathway.
“For us, it’s the process versus outcome and how we measure things. But we’re really comfortable in terms of what we’re looking to get from the games in terms of the high performance barometers we look at.
“If we get a lot of them right in our preparations and what we put together on the field, by-and-large the scoreboard will come naturally.
"Wednesday was a little bit different in that respect but sometimes having to work your way through those challenges and adjust to the different strengths presented by the opposition is really beneficial.
“The key thing for me, in terms of coaching development, is the type of messages they offer and ensure you don’t over-dominate in those messages. It’s also about allowing the players to grow according to what they can see and how they adapt on the field.
"There was a really healthy mix of that on Wednesday.
“At the start of this process and block, we did say it would be about the bigger picture after these boys spent a long time out of the game due to the pandemic.
“The last time this group took to the field was against Scarlets at Sardis Road in February 2020, where we won the Championship. But that night we also gave a lot of development opportunities for players to play.
“For me, it’s about getting the mix right and we continue to do so.”
For a number of seasons, Rees and the Cardiff Blues pathway coaches have emphasised the importance of giving a wide pool of players game time and development opportunities.
With a number of Year 12 students introduced to the matchday squad in Llanelli, the academy manager saw a hunger and desire to make an impression as they look to bridge the gap following a sustained period without competitive rugby due to the pandemic.
“The boys involved at Parc y Scarlets were a bit younger, so they accepted the natural order of things when it came to selection in the first two games,” adds Rees.
“We were adamant that some of the academy guys needed to get high minutes in terms of what we were looking to get out of this.
“But the attitude has been great across the board, and everyone has come together brilliantly. The players deserve credit for that.
“The biggest shock for them, and the hardest thing for us, is that we’re trying to bridge the gaps in the pathway caused by the pandemic. A lot of these guys haven’t been on the field since under-16 rugby in February 2020.
“So they’re now having to step up a year group, almost a year and a half later, against under-18 opposition. The same will be for the Scarlets and Dragons.
“So for the younger group in particular, who perhaps haven’t had that consistency in training because of school restrictions over the past year, it’s been really tough and they’ve had to battle through that.
“That was an eye opener for us, but a healthy eye opener. If we can review that properly with each individual, and collectively send some messages out alongside our schools and colleges for the summer and beyond.
“A lot of those boys will stay with us next year in our under-18 programme and beyond that for some of them.”
While some players are getting back to grips with life on the rugby field, the likes of Cameron Winnett and Harrison James have been training alongside the senior side before returning into under-18 rugby.
Rees is pleased to see those players taking their experiences around the academy and senior squads to become positive influences amongst their younger peers.
The academy manager said: “There are some guys in the system that we’ve spent time day-in, day-out with them over the past year, in terms of the academy routines, and that has been incredibly challenging.
“But all credit to the coaches and S&C guys for continually generating a really strong, motivational climate around their individual developments, without the ability to judge them on the rugby field.
“So this block of games has been brilliant for us to do, with the support of Dragons and Scarlets, while the WRU has been assisting the whole process.
“There’s players like Cameron Winnett and Harrison James who have trained with the senior side recently, while Gwilym Evans has taken on a senior role within the group and captained in recent games, but has also taken on that responsibility that on a daily basis with the academy.
“We wanted to put them under a bit of duress in terms of leadership roles. We wanted them to concentrate on their own games, first and foremost, but have been keeping an eye on how they interact, what they expect of the players around them, how they can take some of the snippets they’ve seen from different players in the senior environment and bring that, alongside the coaching, to an aligned under-18 programme.
“That’s been great for them. We’ve seen some of the free-flowing rugby on show in the first couple of games, but Wednesday in particular was about someone like Cam needing to be on the money positionally, constantly talking to his wings, be a bit more defensively-minded.
“But when he had an opportunity, he created a wondrous moment for what turned out to be the match winning try.
“Likewise with Harrison. He struggled at times because we weren’t on the front foot so the flow of the game wasn’t as smooth, and that becomes difficult for your playmakers at 10 and 12, and he’s played in both positions.
“But he had to make different types of decision making, adjust his alignment in slippy conditions and under defensive line-speed. Looking at his run-pass-kick game, it wasn’t perfect, but again I know that’s he’s someone who will go through a really good review process with Dan Fish and our kicking coach Alan Kingsley.
“There’s a lot of support that goes with that. Harrison is very independent and self-aware in terms of what he needs to work on. So it was a good evening for those players.”
In charge of the set-up are academy coaches Dan Fish and Craig Everett, complimented by the likes of kicking coach Alan Kingsley, S&C coaches Dan Akenhead and Cai Jenkins and the invaluable volunteer network that underpins the age grade system.
Facing the challenge of balancing game time with personal development, Rees says the overall programme has been a success in recent weeks and credits the work of the coaches in the system.
“It’s been really good for coaches like Fishy and Craggs. It’s been a challenging year for them in terms of coaching, drill design and thinking of different themes in both attack and defensively.
“We have been stretched at times in terms of resource in academy rugby over the last 12 months, having lost a couple of staff members, but they’ve risen to that challenge from an individual point of view.
“And then more recently, they’ve had to bring our under-18 players together as a captive group and start to put a bit more team-orientated work into it.
“It’s been a good process, and what’s impressed me with them and how we’ve ran the programme with Dan Akenhead running the S&C, is that we still haven’t compromised an academy player’s working week.
“We’ve still got a high running load in terms of what we’re doing, still got a lot of individual development plans that we won’t compromise on. So even though it becomes a bit more team orientated, I would say that even on game weeks, compared to the norm in coaching, I’ve been thrilled that we’ve only concentrated on the team stuff at around 30 or 40 per cent of the time.
“In terms of the way we are training and loading academy players, they cover around 15,000km in a working week which, regardless of team preparations, will help bridge the gap to seniors and help us play the high ball-in-play game that we crave, as we saw against the Dragons last week.
“So merging the 18s to academy has allowed those boys coming in to realise the intensity and demands that comes in with life in the academy.
“Fair play to Fishy and Craggs, they’ve brought what we wanted in terms of the big picture.”